Robert Depke, Lake County politician, dies at 84

Robert W. Depke, a major political player who twice served as chairman of the Lake County Board and was nicknamed "Bulldozer Bob" for his pro-development initiatives, died June 27 at age 84.

Robert W. Depke, a major political player who twice served as chairman of the Lake County Board and was nicknamed "Bulldozer Bob" for his pro-development initiatives, died June 27 at age 84. (Amy Alderman, Chicago Tribune)

Joan Giangrasse Kates, Special to the Tribune

Robert W. Depke, a major political player who twice served as chairman of the Lake County Board, was nicknamed "Bulldozer Bob" for his pro-development initiatives.

But it was his role in the 1990s in helping to stop the closing and perhaps razing of Naval Station Great Lakes in North Chicago that may be his most indelible achievement.

Mr. Depke helped assemble consultants and rally politicians in Illinois and Wisconsin to make the case for Great Lakes to the Base Closure Commission. The commission found the arguments plausible, and training became centralized at Great Lakes.

"I admired the way he made history by assembling a team of officials and pillars of the community to keep the Naval Station Great Lakes in Lake County," said Larry Leafblad, a former member of the Lake County Board. "Imagine: Every single person on board in today's Navy came through Great Lakes. Bob saw to it that this engine of commerce stayed in Lake County."

Mr. Depke, 84, who was Warren Township supervisor from 1961 to 1997, died Friday, June 27, at his Gurnee home. He had been ill for about a year.

Mr. Depke was on the Lake County Board from 1961 to 1972, 1982 to 1986 and a third time from 1990 to 1996.

He was elected chairman for the first time in 1968. His second stint of five years ended when he was routed in the 1996 primary amid an anti-growth wave that also took out two of his political allies. Residents who had come to the county during a building boom Mr. Depke helped usher in wanted to slow things down and preserve land around their communities.

The board named a new juvenile detention center in Vernon Hills the Robert W. Depke Juvenile Justice Complex after his surprising primary defeat in 1996.

Born in Waukegan, Mr. Depke worked in his father's garage and played football at Warren Township High School in Gurnee. He also served in the National Guard during the Korean War.

After working for his father, who also was a Warren Township supervisor in the 1940s, he sold cars at a Libertyville dealership.

In 1961, Mr. Depke won his first election as Warren Township supervisor and as a Lake County commissioner. In Warren Township, he is credited with helping establish a senior center and numerous programs for the area's young people.

Political foes and open-land advocates derisively dubbed him "Bulldozer Bob" for his pro-development stances, a nickname he embraced — even keeping a toy bulldozer in his office, his family said.

He assisted in the growth of major corporations like Abbott Laboratories and Baxter International and helped bring automated voting to Lake County, as well as flood relief and road improvement projects.

In 1994, W.W. Grainger Inc., donated nearly half of the 525-acre tract on which it wanted to build its headquarters complex near Mettawa to the Lake County Forest Preserve District, a plan supported by Mr. Depke that helped end a bitter five-year battle over the company's development plans.

Numerous officials at the time described the size of the donation — 257 acres, including one of the last sugar maple forests in the county — as unprecedented.

"That's $8 million or $9 million worth of property" Mr. Depke told the Tribune at the time. "The company's good, and this shows an effort to preserve the county."

Mr. Depke was also a founding member of the Gurnee Lions Club and remained with the organization for 58 years.

"Bob Depke the public figure was a tough fighter for his beliefs ... and his vision," said Leafblad, who had known Mr. Depke since the early 1960s. "With close friends, he was a fun guy to be around."

Survivors include his wife, George Anne; five sons, Robert II, Shawn, Michael Hendee, Braden and Bowen; a daughter, Kellie Hendee; 14 grandchildren; and a great-grandchild.